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Using cognates to learn Italian vocabulary

In my article on using cognates to help you learn vocabulary in another language, I gave the example of trying to learn the German word for important, ‘wichtig’, and how there’s no hook there to help you remember it (which is why so many of us fall back on rote repetition to try to hammer vocabulary into our heads). However, I pointed out, if you knew that wichtig descends from a root that also produced weigh, weight, and weighty, you could reframe the translation as wichtig = weighty, important, and now you have your meaningful connection.

Such connections don’t do away entirely with the need to practice, but they do mean that much less practice is required. You just have to focus on that meaningful connection.

23 have cognates, but with obscure words or common French or Spanish words, or the similarity is much less evident (Group 5)

12, and only 12, are unrelated, and thus require a mnemonic connection (Group 6)

Of the 17 numbers, all are cognate, and most of them quite obviously so.

In other words, about 94% of this group have some meaningful connection with an English word. I will agree that the nouns and numbers are far more likely to be cognate than other parts of speech, but still, this is impressive.

I am working on a workbook that will expand on these, and contain all the top 1000 words. In the meantime, I hope the following lists of these nouns and numbers are useful.

Here are the numbers that appear in the list:

uno, one

due, two — think duo, dual

tre, three — also cognate with tri-, as in triangle, trio, tripod

quattro, four — think of quadruple, quadrilateral, quadruped, square

cinque, five — cognate with five, but this is not very obvious; also cognate with quinquennial and quinate, and of course French cinq

sei, six — cognate, but you do have to focus on the first part of ‘six’!

sette, seven — cognate but it may help to think of September (which used to the 7th month, before the Romans reformed the calendar by popping in what would become July and August), also septenarian and septuagenarian; also French sept

otto, eight — think octagon, octopus, octave

nove, nine — French neuf, English November (same reason: it started off as the 9th month), novena

dieci, ten — cognate with decimal, and French dix

venti, twenty — okay, there are words in English cognate with this, but they’re pretty rare; still, if you drop the initial t, the words become much more similar

cento, hundred — cognate with cent, century

migliaia, thousand — think of millimeter, millisecond, etc

milione, million

primo, first — think of primary

secondo, second

terzo, third

Ok, let’s look at the nouns. First, the ones that are very similar to their English counterparts:

Group 1

abilità, skill, ability

accordo, accord, agreement, chord (mus.)

animale, animal

appartamento, apartment, flat

area, area

arte, art

atomo, atom

atto, act

auto, car (automobile)

banca, bank

banda, band

bar, bar

base, base

bit, bit

blocco, block

bordo, edge, border

campo, field, camp

capitale, capital

capitano, captain

carattere, character

caso, case

causa, cause

cella, cell

cent, cent

centro, center

città, city, town

classe, class

colonia, colony

colonna, column

colore, color

commercio, trade, commerce

condizione, condition

consonante, consonant

continente, continent

controllo, control

copia, copy

corda, rope, cord

corrente, current

corso, course

costa, coast

costo, cost

cotone, cotton

cuoco, cook

cura, care, treatment, cure

danza, dance

decimale, decimal

deserto, desert

difficoltà, trouble, difficulty

discussioni, discussion, argument

divisione, division

dizionario, dictionary

dollaro, dollar

effetto, effect

elemento, element

energia, energy

esempio, example

esercizio, exercise

esperienza, experience

esperimento, experiment

est, east

evento, event

famiglia, family

fatto, fact

feltro, felt

fico, fig

fiera, fair, exhibition

figura, figure

finale, final

finitura, finish

foresta, forest

forma, form, shape

forza, force, strength

frase, sentence, phrase

frazione, fraction

frutta, fruit

gas, gas

gatto, cat

giardino, garden

gruppo, group

idea, idea

industria, industry

insetto, insect

interesse, interest

lettera, letter

liquido, liquid

linea, line

livello, level

log, log

lotto, lot

macchina, machine

magnete, magnet

mais, maize, corn

mappa, map

marchio, mark

massa, mass

materia, matter

materiale, material

melodia, melody

messaggio, message

modello, model, pattern

motivo, reason, motive

metallo, metal

metodo, method

minuto, minute

molecola, molecule

momento, moment

montagna, mountain

monte, mount, mountain

moto, motion

motore, engine, motor

musica, music

natura, nature

nazione, nation

nome, name

nord, north

nota, note

numerale, numeral

numero, number

oceano, ocean

offerta, offer

oggetto, object

olio, oil

ora, hour

ordine, order

organo, organ

pagina, page

palla, ball

papà, dad

paragrafo, paragraph

parte, part

partito, party

pausa, pause, break

periodo, period

persona, person

persone, people

pistola, gun

porto, port

posa, pose

posizione, position

possibilità, possibility, chance

pratica, practice

presente, present

problema, problem

processo, process

prodotto, product

proprietà, property

punto, point

quarto di gallone, quart

quota, share, portion, quota

quoziente, quotient

radio, radio

record, record

regione, region

resto, rest

risultato, result

rock, rock

rosa, rose

sale, salt

scala, scale

scienza, science

scuola, school

segmento, segment

segno, sign — also signal

senso, sense

sistema, system

sezione, section

sillaba, syllable

simbolo, symbol

soluzione, solution

sorpresa, surprise

sostanza, substance

spazio, space

stato, state

stazione, station

storia, story, history

strada, street, road

stringa, string

strumento, instrument, tool

studente, student

studio, study

successo, success

sud, south

suffisso, suffix

supporto, support

tavolo, table

team, team

temperatura, temperature

termine, term

test, test

tipo, type

tono, tone

totale, total

treno, train

triangolo, triangle

tubo, tube

turno, turn

ufficio, office

umano, human

unità, unit, unity

uso, use

valle, valley

valore, value

vapore, steam, vapor / vapour

velocità, speed, velocity

verbo, verb

vigore, force, vigor / vigour

villaggio, village

visita, visit

vittoria, win, victory

Group 2

the fairly easy nouns (but you may have to work a little to see the connection)

acqua, water — aqua, aquatic

amico, friend — amicable, Spanish amigo

angolo, corner — angle

anno, year — annual

amore, love — amorous, French amour

bambino, child, baby

barca, boat — barge, barque

bellezza, beauty — belle (the belle of the ball)

bevanda, drink — beverage

cane, dog — canine

carne, meat — carnivore

casa, home, house — well-known in English from the Spanish casa; also cognate with French chez (to, at), as in chez moi (at my house)

cambiamento, a change, shift, turn — cognate with change, although not very obvious; perhaps clearer if you know that cambiamento derives from cambiare, to change, and the English comes from French changier

guscio, shell — may be cognate with cyst

pioggia, rain — cognate with pluvial, flood, float, also French pluie

pipistrello, bat — used to be vipistrello, which makes the link to cognates vespers (evening prayers) and western (where the sun sets) more obvious